Top 7 Reasons Every Small Business Needs A Website

Believe it or not, some business owners are still not sold on having their own website. If you are one of them, this post is for you!

Location, location, location!

You must have heard this real estate mantra touted by many gurus across the world. This was so true when every business needed to have a brick and mortar establishment. But if you have heard of Amazon, you know that’s not true anymore. Whether you sell your secret recipe curry powder from the privacy of your home, or you have a fancy boutique in a fashion district, you need to know the fourth essential ingredient of business success. And that is your very own website.

Your website is your Prime Real Estate. A toy store on Manhattan’s 5th Avenue might need to pay thousands of dollars in rent, and spend much more on making people walk into their store. But even an 80% off sale cannot lure customers into their store in a raging blizzard. A web store faces no such hassles. Neither hurricane nor tornado can shut this store down!

Check our top 7 reasons why having a website can elevate your small business and keep those cash registers ringing.

1.) Harried customers

Give them a break!

The foremost concern of any business is and should be their customers. With people working longer hours, juggling kids and commutes and household chores, who really has time to physically go to a store? What if you are a doctor or a decorator? Customers still prefer to comparison shop on the web.

Studying your website can give folks a general idea of who you are and whether you are in the ballpark of what they are looking for. Regardless of your profession or product, your website is like a photograph anyone would want to see before going out on a date with you.

By providing information about yourself, you save customers one step, and they already like you for it.

2.) 24/7/365 Availability

You need to sleep, but your website doesn’t. It’s like Mr. Data from Star Trek and it is always ‘On’, always there to speak for you. Your website works a 24 hour shift for you every day of the year.

So you are free to go on that vacation or nurse your sick child.

3.) Sans Boundaries

A website brings the world to your fingertips. Geographical boundaries don’t really matter. You can ship your curry powder to Siberia, and the easiest way someone there will find you is if you have a simple website telling people what you sell.

4.) Set and Forget

Most websites do not need much maintenance. The only changes you might need are adding new products, changing prices, or adding special offers. And this can be done in a few minutes with a WordPress website.

Changing your digs? All you need to do is update your address on your website. What could be more simpler than this?

5.) Low Setup and Maintenance cost

A website doesn’t cost much, maybe a 100 dollars a year depending on your domain and hosting solution. That is around $10 per month (or Rs. 600 per month). What kind of office or shop do you get for that much money?

A website also levels the playing field. There is no uptown or downtown here – everyone is out there in the cyber world.

And you hold the controls to how prime you can make your website!

6.) Gets Better With Time

A website can be like aged Scotch – it sort of gets better with time. This has something to do with search engines and indexing. Everything else being the same, a four year old website will show up higher in searches than one that was built yesterday.

This means that the time to go live with your website was yesterday!

7.) No Upfront Advertising Cost

There is no upfront advertising needed. Because your website itself is your Big Color Ad! One that has unlimited pages and square footage, a whole spectrum of colors, and the greatest copy you can write.

Although you may engage other promotional channels from time to time, your website is your main big advertisement that needs no separate budget.

This list can go on and on, but I think these are the elementary reasons that cannot be ignored anymore. People do not even need a computer to look at your website! Many people use their cell phones or mobile phones or tablets.

Action Needed

What is keeping you from building a website for your business?

If knowledge is a barrier, we have written a step by step eBook that teaches you how to build your website on your own. Be sure to get it and you will be amazed by how easy it is.

Please help us help you by leaving a comment here. And share this with your friends to help them overcome their inhibitions.

Your small business or practice needs a website! It is time you gave it one!